“This is a memorable day for FIBA as we team up with Nike,” said FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann as basketball’s world governing body and the world’s leading sportswear manufacturer announced the signing of an 11-year (2017-2027) commercial agreement covering FIBA’s Senior Men’s, Women’s and Youths’ flagship national team competitions. “The agreement underlines FIBA and Nike’s desire to collaborate in order to grow basketball worldwide, focusing on the leading official competitions such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Continental Cups,” says a FIBA press release, adding: that “Nike will benefit from long-term global marketing rights related to the major FIBA national team competitions.”

FIBA’s ambitions to grow the game will be supported by Nike contributions in the areas of promotion, marketing communication and the engagement of top players and ambassadors. In a first phase, the related activities will focus on the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. Together, FIBA and Nike strive to build the FIBA Basketball World Cup into an outstanding global sports property.

Said Craig Zanon, Vice President and General Manager of Nike Global Basketball: “We are very excited about this partnership with FIBA. FIBA represents the highest level of international basketball competition, and Nike is committed to using our unmatched global reach to help foster player development and inspire fans around the world. “We are honoured to have helped gnite a powerful culture of basketball in China. Chinese basketball fans’ passion and appetite for the game promise to make the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 a marquee global event.”

Labeling Nike as “the basketball brand by excellence”, Patrick Baumann, also a member of the IOC, stated: “FIBA has already enjoyed the privilege of working with Nike, who is the Founding Partner of 3×3, our ever-growing and popular urban discipline. We look forward to this long-term partnership and it helping us grow the game globally, thanks to the unrivaled popularity as well as worldwide presence that Nike has to offer.”

As a FIBA Partner in the sports apparel (clothing, footwear and accessories) product category, Nike obtained sponsorship rights for all Men’s and Women’s editions of FIBA’s competitions for the 2017-2027 period, including FIBA Basketball World Cups (2019, 2023 and 2027) and their Qualifiers, FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cups, FIBA Continental Cups and their Qualifiers, FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, FIBA U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups.

The advertising and promotional use of Nike’s marks and imagery at these competitions will include the prominent presence of the “swoosh” branding on the court, the integration of its branding across online and in-arena content as well as the provision of uniforms for on-court officials and volunteers. The agreement also sees Nike become the title partner for FIBA’s World Rankings – one of the most visited sections on FIBA.com, with countries ranked based on the performances of their national teams – renaming it Nike FIBA World Rankings. Additionally, Nike will have the Licensing Rights to develop, distribute and sell a range of Celebration products and footwear.

This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.

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